VATICAN CITY — Vatican statistics released today show that the number of Asian and African Catholics is continuing its upward trajectory, while the Church in Europe is still shrinking.

The number of religious excluding priests has risen 18.5% in Africa and a whopping 44.9% in Asia in just 10 years, according to the 2013 Pontifical Yearbook.

The yearbook, which was published May 13 and contains data from 2011, revealed Catholics still make up less than 18% of the world’s population, but the Church is growing the fastest in Africa and Asia.

And although it shows “a strong downward trend was observed in data for the professed religious women, with a decrease of 10% from 2001 to 2011,”...READ MORE

Millennials, or Why TIME’s Subscriptions are Falling by Micah Murphy - Big Pulpit

Ascendit Deus by Iegor Reznikoff – Kathleen Pluth, The Chant Café

Then God Spoke to Me - Emmanuel Joseph, Catholic Stand

The Numbers Seven and Eight in Psalms, Liturgy, Helical Passage of Time – David Clayton, New Liturgical Movement

Infertility and Spiritual Surrender – Miriam Fightlin Brower, Ignitum Today

Chant of “Angels and Saints at Ephesus” - Christopher S. Morrissey, The Catholic World Report

Kermit Gosnell Guilty:  A Roundup of the Best Links on the Gosnell Verdict in the Catholic Blogosphere - Big Pulpit

Let’s Talk About Jesus - Patrick Coffin, Catholic Answers

Are Embryos Human...READ MORE

WASHINGTON — Leaders of several prominent Catholic institutions asked members of Congress to provide for the hungry, protect the interests of farmers and promote environmental stewardship with the 2013 Farm Bill.

“In the face of continuing budgetary constraints, the 2013 Farm Bill is an opportunity to address our nation’s broken and outdated agricultural policies,” they said.

“This is a crucial time to build a more just framework that puts poor and hungry people first, serves small and moderate-sized family farms, promotes sustainable stewardship of the land and helps vulnerable farmers and rural communities both at home and in developing countries.”

In a May 9 letter sent to...READ MORE

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an abortion-rights advocate, says that the court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 was overreaching and became too big a “target” for pro-life supporters.

“That was my concern, that the court had given opponents of access to abortion a target to aim at relentlessly,” Ginsburg said in a talk May 11 at the University of Chicago Law School.

“My criticism of Roe is that it seemed to stop momentum on the side of change.”

Ginsburg, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993, has long been an outspoken supporter of legal abortion, and the comments she made at the University of Chicago are the latest in a...READ MORE

CLEVELAND — The age of social media has opened up new frontiers for spreading the Gospel, and faithful Catholics on the Internet have discovered the power of “memes” to educate others about Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.

In the online world, a “meme” is a concept (usually an image with words or phrases to convey a message) that gets passed from person to person via blogs and social-media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

“I think memes are some of the most effective agents of evangelization out there,” said Sister Anne Flanagan, social-media expert for the Daughters of St. Paul. “The idea meme is visual, punching, has that cultural ‘pop’ in it and is sharable. People can link to...READ MORE

ATCHISON, Kan. — When Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., delivered the May 11 commencement address at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., the former Republican vice-presidential candidate regarded it as an opportunity to “resell free enterprise” as a system with a moral foundation.

“I find it interesting that we have to sort of go back and resell free enterprise,” Ryan told the Register shortly after the address. He said that the free-enterprise system had done more to help the poor than any other system.

“It’s when government cronyism occurs that the strong exploit the weak. If you have a real free-enterprise system, and the rule of law is applied, and you have natural rights that are...READ MORE

WASHINGTON — The U.S. bishops’ conference has announced a second "Fortnight for Freedom," scheduled for the two weeks leading up to Independence Day, to raise awareness and support for the right to religious liberty.

“The need for prayer, education and action in defense of religious liberty has never been greater,” said Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore. “The 'Fortnight for Freedom' exists to meet that need.”

The pastoral initiative will begin with a Mass June 21 (the eve of the feast day of martyrs Sts.Thomas More and John Fisher) celebrated by Archbishop Lori at the Baltimore basilica. It will conclude at noon on July 4 with a Mass at the Washington basilica, to be celebrated by...READ MORE

They Know I’m Catholic, Right? by Randy Hain of The Integrated Catholic Life™ website - Big Pulpit

Saint Thomas Aquinas on the Special Crown of the Martyrs – Taylor Marshall PhD, Canterbury Tales

Whispering Statues – Mariella Hunt, Ignitum Today

N. B. C. Worries New Saints WIll Hurt Islam’s Feelings – Pat Archbold, Creative Minority Report

Same-Sex 'Marriage': Why it Matters – Matthew Brower, Catholic Stand

A Primer on Rights, with Reference to Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ – Scott Eric Alt, Logos and Muse

Kermit Gosnell Guilty:  A Roundup of the Best Links on the Gosnell Verdict in the Catholic Blogosphere - Big Pulpit

Divine Intimacy: A Book Every Catholic Should Own – Jason Liske,...READ MORE